Guidance

This page contains guides for public authorities in England, Scotland and Wales.

The guides provide an overview of the equality duty, including the general equality duty, the specific duties and who they apply to. They cover what public authorities should do to meet the duty. This includes steps that are legally required, as well as recommended actions.

To support Scottish public authorities in meeting their equality duties, the Commission has produced non-statutory guidance which is available on the EHRC Scotland website. The guides provide an overview of the public sector equality duty, including the general equality duty, the specific duties and who they apply to. They cover what public authorities should do to meet the duty. This includes steps that are legally required, as well as recommended actions.

The Commission has published Public Sector Equality Duty Technical Guidance for England, Wales and Scotland. The guidance provides an authoritative, comprehensive and technical guide to the detail of the law.

The equality duty requires public authorities to demonstrate that they are making financial decisions in a fair, transparent and accountable way, considering the needs and the rights of different members of their community. We have issued guidance to assist public authorities leaders and decision-makers to make sure that the process followed to assess the impact on equality of financial proposals is robust, and the impact financial proposals could have on protected groups is thoroughly considered before any decisions are arrived at.

The following Codes of Practice and guidance on the previous equality duties were issued by the former equality Commissions, (Disability Rights Commission, Commission for Racial Equality, Equal Opportunities Commission). These are now out of date and have been replaced. However, we are aware some of these documents may still be of value to individuals or organisations for research or historical purposes. Please contact us at equalityduty@equalityhumanrights.com if you require a copy of any of the publications below:

Gender equality duty

The gender equality duty: code of practice

Consulting stakeholders on gender equality

Meeting the gender equality duty in employment

Meeting the gender equality duty for transsexual staff

Developing gender equality objectives and a gender equality scheme

Gathering and using information on gender equality

Overview of the gender equality duty

Gender equality duty and schools

Guidance on health and the gender equality duty

Gender equality duty and local government

Guidance on the gender equality duty for the voluntary and community sector

Race equality duty

The race equality duty: code of practice

Ethnic monitoring: a guide for public authorities

The duty to promote race equality: a guide for public authorities

Public authorities and partnerships: a guide to the duty to promote race equality

Race equality and public procurement: a guide for public authorities and contractors

The duty to promote race equality: a guide for schools

Health and the disability equality duty

The duty to promote race equality: performance guidelines for government departments